UAA gymnastics continues to push towards its fundraising goal

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - The University of Alaska Anchorage gymnastics team needs to raise $880,000 with half in cash and half in pledges for the next year if they want to keep their program alive.

All of the donations go through the UA Foundation. The team is just getting back from the holiday break, so Interim Head Coach Marie-Sophie Boggasch couldn’t give an exact number of where they stand but thinks their next report will be positive.

“We are definitely over the $300,000 threshold and we might be closing in on that $400,000 threshold even,” Boggasch said. “I am expecting the report coming Saturday or Sunday.”

The team launched their virtual silent auction, which has an array of items, everything from signed memorabilia to a golf experience.

The silent auction will run until Jan. 24. The collegiate gymnastics girls initiative is also still running a virtual competition, focused on saving collegiate gymnastics.

UAA is currently the only program that is on the chopping block in the nation. They are hoping to get 2,000 entries which could end up raising up to $20,000. That virtual competition will be running until Jan. 16.

Boggasch said that the pandemic has made fundraising even more difficult than it already was, but just the fact that they have raised this much money thus far shows how much people appreciate and want to keep the gymnastics program around.

“I certainly hope that we make a compelling argument,” Boggasch said. “I certainly hope that we can once more appeal to the value that we bring and just the fact, especially as an indoor sport we were able to raise that kind of money.”

The gymnastics program has until Feb. 15 to raise the money and garner the pledges.